Thursday, May 27, 2010

As we said goodbye to Xi'an we decided to dash out once more to the wonderful marketplace not far from our hotel. After walking around for several hours we were exhausted and decided to attempt to hail a taxi. In the process of trying to obtain one, we were inundated with offers from "city cabs". After many failures to secure a taxi we decided to go for the experience of the city cab. Keep in mind these are scooters with a cart. In our case, we piled 4 people into a cart that was meant to hold 2 small Chinese folks.

Off we went into the maze of traffic through the center of Xi'an. The 'wagon' part had sheets hanging from the sides to block our view - perhaps to keep us from screaming as the driver darted in and out of traffic using the small size of the scooter as the weapon to accomplish the task! OH MY!! What a trip! John thought it was hysterical, but the adults were thinking 'what have we done'!?! About 10 minutes (and $2.00 American dollars) later we pull up to the hotel and the bellman watches 4 of us pile out with all our treasures and packages from the marketplace. - Be sure to take a look at our "chariot" :)

The next day our guide fussed a bit.. she said, "I no recommend" .. "it not safe".. "many tip over".. "I not do again".... umm ok. Apparently they are operated by individuals not endorsed by the city powers that be or the Chinese DMV :)

Xi'an is a beautiful, but busy city in central China. Besides being known for the Terra cotta warrior discovery, it has many other attractions. One of the interesting features about the city central is that it is enclosed within a massive thick stone wall that was built centuries ago to protect the city from the enemies. It stretches for 9 miles surrounding the city and you can enter only from the tunnel.

We were packed and off the next morning to our final leg..

Look closely who is pictured on the t-shirts (dressed like Mao) behind John. These were seen all over China and merchants said they were selling "very good".. Click the above photo to enlarge.